I've promoted a lot of weight loss products and done well with it. However, I have always promoted dietary supplements that were sold on a free trial basis + S/H, rather than an offer that was a straight sale.

The user would get a $50-$60+ product and just pay like $5-$9 for shipping and handling.

Even though the user only pays S/H, the payouts would typically be $30-$40.

After the trial ends, the user gets put on a continuity program and is auto-billed each month. The companies know their numbers. How many will typically cancel before the trial ends and those that don't, how many months they will stay in the continuity program before canceling.

So they know what each trial user is worth to them long-term and is why you get such a high payout even though the user only paid S/H.

I have always gotten my offers through CPA networks. You also get paid regardless if the user cancels during the free trial and you don't get debited for returns.

This is why I always promoted free trials + S/H. Plus the fact that they typically should convert much better than if someone has to pay full price.

You ideally want to promote what is hot...what is Dr. Oz talking about, etc...

The size of your list doesn't always mean more money. Ive heard of people with list of 3-5K that cant make any money.

If you have a list of 10K subs that are all looking for free content, because of what the opt-in applied than that list will make a little money. However, you still have a list of people looking for free content.

If your opt-in doesn't lead people to believe that they are signing up for free content than that list will be much more profitable with just 2-3K subs.

If you are really good than you can monetize a smaller list as well.

It really has to do with your strategy and how you presented yourself at the beginning.

The only way you find out if the content is great is by sending it out to the market and gathering the feedback.

What seems to be an awesome piece of information for you can be fluff for others.

The fact that you have no engagement after sending your emails should be just the feedback you need to change and improve.

Make sure your message does not only offer a way to improve. Underline a painful problem that people in your niche are struggling with and position yourself as the only one with a solution.

Experiment with it. Craft several messages and send them out, see which ones are more engaging, figure out what those messages have and others don't and create better-improved versions.

How long should you keep going? As long as it takes, just don't make the same mistakes over and over. If this is something you want to do for a long time, don't stop when things are getting hard. You are outside of your comfort zone right and here is where you improve your mindsets and learn the fastest.

You will have to get used to being uncomfortable if you want to get to a place that is worthwhile.